“A brave leader is someone who says I see you. I hear you. I don’t have all the answers, but I’m going to keep listening and asking questions” Brene Brown.
Organisations are increasingly moving towards developing leaders with coaching capability in support of their people and performance agendas. Leaders who coach, help their teams to grow and build their ability to develop further in a self-directed and sustainable way. Everyone in the organisation brings their unique experiences and knowledge, and performance improves when leaders give team members a voice and space to leverage opinion forming, problem solving and idea creation.
It’s clear to see the impact where leaders show curiosity and embrace more meaningful ways to engage in performance and development conversations. When leaders approach conversations as a meeting of energies between two intelligent human beings and with deeper enquiry, it can make a real difference to relationships and performance. Leaders who help their teams access the most meaningful aspects of every conversation through the lens of a learner mindset enter a process of true partnering in performance and development and a space for awareness to surface and for potential and innovation to expand.
Time to invest in a change of style. Switching from the style of expert, the one who must always give direction and answers, to one where they show trust and belief in the ability of their teams and the talent they have hired. Through acknowledging the ability, creativity, and resourcefulness of those they lead, leaders learn to be vulnerable and comfortable with others finding solutions. They do this in the confidence that it does not have a negative perception on their ability to lead. Quite the opposite. Leaders who inspire performance because they are prepared to accept that they are not the only ones that know the way, demonstrate courage and strength. They are a great source of learning, inspiration and role modelling and the teams they lead are a source of learning for them too.
What about vulnerability in leaders who coach? Vulnerability does not mean abdicating leadership responsibility or control. It requires being comfortable with not knowing best, and builds empowerment through asking for support, ideas, and thoughts from others. Thus, creating a culture of learning, independent and diverse thinking which contributes to greater team success. When leaders open themselves up to developing coaching skills, the leadership mindset shifts from Command and Control “I have all the best answers” to a coach mindset of Support and Challenge, “I empower others to find their own solutions.” They remove themselves as a blockage to performance and instead become an enabler. Problem solving and idea generation facilitated through listening, asking question, and challenging assumptions provokes new thinking and extends beyond what is heard and includes what is observed through body language and behaviour.
Where organisations invest in developing leaders who coach, psychological safety must be present and is the bedrock for conversations that provide support and challenge. Intentional action of leaders to encourage a culture of learning and experimentation also begins from a trust base. Nevitt Sanford’s ‘Challenge and Support model’ (1966) suggest that when there is a high level of support and challenge in conversations, individuals are in the ‘Growth Zone’. It is here where behaviours are positively confronted, assumptions are challenged, and difficult conversations take place. It is also in the ‘Growth Zone’ where leaders show courage in sharing their intuition and honest feedback in service of raising awareness and performance in individuals and teams. All done with a healthy balance of support. Leaders who coach, often share that they feel the tension between wanting to provide solutions versus stretching the thinking of those they lead. It takes practice and patience and more practice to resist the temptation to leap in and instead show curiosity, understanding and belief that the answers can lie elsewhere. As outlined in the work by Blanchard and Hersey (Situational Leadership Model) there are of course times where leaders need to adopt a directive leadership style. A helpful question for leaders to consider is “how can I best bring out the experience, creativity and resourcefulness in those I lead?”
Coaching conversations play a critical role in performance. Growing coaching cultures in organisations takes time, resilience, and perseverance to develop and embed. It starts with a growth mindset and a strong sense of performance opportunity in those leaders who coach.
Leaders often cite time as being their scarcest commodity. For leaders to build their capacity to work on strategic challenges they can save time and redirect their energy and focus by building responsibility and accountability in others. Leaders who step-in to solve problems are sending a signal to those they lead that they are not capable of solving them and the leader is the one who knows best. Instead of empowering a team it unintentionally disempowers them, shatters confidence, and sets a tone that suggests the leader has the right answer in all scenarios. Leaders who coach, build responsibility in individuals, and encourage them to lean on their unique experience and strengths, explore beliefs, act on ideas, and hold them accountable for doing so.
There are some situations where authority and a more directive approach are needed, however, where the focus is on a coaching mindset, instead of asserting authority, leaders would do well to pause, ask, and listen. Instead of leaders telling team members how to get to where they need to, leaders who coach, partner with the individual to set and agree direction and then support and challenge the individual through creating a space for reflection, awareness, and ownership. Not only does this inspire and motivate team members toward action, but it also prepares and fosters an environment, failure is inevitable. Whilst some find the concept of failure as one to avoid at all costs, leaders who take a coaching approach use failure, including their own, as opportunities for exploration and learning and they normalise vulnerability and imperfection in the pursuit of growth and high performance.
Being curious about what people need to succeed as opposed to telling them what they need to succeed, changes the performance landscape, and re-directs all responsibility for performance away from the leader and into a shared space of ownership with individual accountability.
As an Associate Coach partnering with The Laid Bare Company to deliver their Leader as Coach Programme, it’s clear to see that Leaders who coach effectively also share traits in the way they engage their teams in performance and development conversations. They:
- have adult to adult conversations with two-way challenge
- ask more than they tell
- enquire rather than advise
- observe and share what they hear and see
- create space for the individual to do most of the talking
- provide honest and timely feedback
- are fully present and listen with empathy
- build responsibility in individuals to own their performance and development
- focus on impact when holding individuals to account for their actions
Leaders who coach, empower their teams to act, and they demonstrate trust in the capability of their team members to assess information, make decisions and perform.
Michelle Atkinson is an Associate Coach Mentor with The Laid Bare Company and an independent coach (ICF PCC) and leadership development facilitator. LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-atkinson-pcc
